Phaedra and Other Plays [Paperback]

Living in Rome under Caligula and later a tutor to Nero, Seneca witnessed the extremes of human behaviour. His shocking and bloodthirsty plays not only reflect a brutal period of history but also show how guilt, sorrow, anger and desire lead individuals to violence. The hero ofHercules Insanesaves his own family from slaughter, only to commit further atrocities when he goes mad. The horrifying death of Astyanax is recounted inTrojan Women, andPhaedradeals with forbidden love. InOedipusa nervous man discovers himself, while Thyestes recounts the bitter family struggle for a crown. Of uncertain authorship,Octaviadramatizes Nero's divorce from his wife and her deportation. The only Latin tragedies to have survived complete, these plays are masterpieces of vibrant, muscular language and psychological insight.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Lucius Annaeus Senecastatesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. After retiring from public life, he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing. Following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide in AD 65.

R. Scott Smithis Associate Professor of Classics at the University of New Hampshire. His books includelĂ)